1. Field of Art
The disclosure relates to electronic transaction systems such as electronic commerce systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Online payment platforms can generally be categorized into two types of systems: account-based and token-based. Account-based systems generally include a web-based interface that leads to one or several account management and transaction processing servers which have access to potentially numerous financial accounts. A seller transfers a transaction to the account-based system in order to handle the payment. Upon transfer, a buyer logs into the account-based system and commits the payment with the press of a button. Known account-based systems include PAYPAL, GOOGLE CHECKOUT, MONEYBOOKERS and BIDPAY. Token-based systems are the other major type of online payment platform. Token-based systems utilize tokens, which are typically implemented as files, which carry actual value. Payment for a good or service with a token-based system is accomplished with the electronic transfer of a token, from the purchaser to the seller. The appeal of the token-based systems is that during a transaction, a user feels as if the user is moving value rather than just hitting a button.
A drawback of current account-based systems is that the user interfaces are unnatural; the button-press payment method does not closely model a customary, in-person transaction so the user is immediately unfamiliar with the transaction process; there are also a wide range of different button-press systems so the user must learn to navigate each one separately. Another drawback of current account-based systems is that their user interfaces are not sufficiently rich in features to allow the wide range of information they require (such as login information, credentials, shipping information, coupons, subscription information, and different payment instruments) to be easily inputted by the user through a small number of mouse clicks or screen touches. Another drawback is that classic account-based systems are limited in terms of security because they are, in general, very limited in how they can interact with a user's computer hardware, so they are largely dependent upon web browsers which are well known to be vulnerable to a wide range of types of malicious attacks. Another drawback is that account based systems do not allow a user to perform much customization because these systems are web-based and therefore controlled by the payment system operator.
Drawbacks of token-based systems are their security risks. For example, token-based systems are generally divorced from their modes of transfer. The tokens are simply files which can be sent to other users electronically. Tokens can therefore be intercepted before they reach their true destination. Furthermore, tokens can be copied and fraudulently double-spent. Mitigating these problems requires awkward software for issuing, verifying and removing tokens after use, making the payment process quite cumbersome. Token-based systems also generally suffer from the same usability problems of account-based systems, because they do not provide users with the ability to easily convey the large amounts of information to complete even ordinary transactions: credentials, shipping information, coupons, subscription information, different payment instruments, and the like.
In addition electronic payment systems today lack intuitive interactive features that allow for quick and easy transaction initiation and completions, and are therefore not capable of handling micropayments. Further, such interfaces are devoid of a look and feel that can be easily translated from the familiar tangible transaction tools such as hard currency, debit cards, credit cards and business cards.
Another major drawback of current online payment systems involves their lack of integration with the real world. Other than credit cards, there are few means of paying which can be used in both the online and real-world setting.
In terms of advertising, once again there is very little cross-pollination between the online and real-world setting. Online advertising is dominated by companies such as GOOGLE as well as a host of smaller ‘banner ad’ providers. One major problem facing these advertisers is that most users have been trained to ignore their ads. One potential way of solving this problem is to offer users a quid pro quo for viewing advertising such as coupons, and several coupon systems have been proposed, but the market has resisted the wide-scale adoption of coupons as an effective means of advertising online. This is partly due to the clumsy user interface commonly found in these systems, such as coupon codes which need to be typed in, and coupons which must be printed in order to be redeemed, and partly due to the fact that most of these systems are independent from any payment system, so any checkout process involving them would require two transactions—one to receive the coupon's discount, and the second to pay for the remainder of the transaction. A separate problem facing this area is that of stigma; many people do not wish to be seen as cheapskates, and therefore avoid the use of coupons.
Another major problem facing advertisers both online and in the real world is that of targeting. Advertising is typically targeted demographically in order to appeal to the audience of a television show, radio station, or web page. The limitation of this approach is that even within such a demographic, people's tastes vary widely, prompting efforts to develop customized or ‘targeted’ advertising aimed at individuals. However, the inability of advertisers to gain sufficient personal information about users and to then translate that knowledge into effective automated advertising has hampered these efforts.
In terms of identity management and universal login, the online market has seen remarkably little progress. Several social networking websites such as FACEBOOK and MYSPACE have allowed users to enter some of their personal information online so that it can be shared with friends, but these sites have largely failed to provide a universal means of identity management which is compatible with commercial needs such as subscription administration. Furthermore, the problem of developing a viable universal login service is far from being solved, with the market rejecting efforts such as MICROSOFT'S PASSPORT/WINDOWS LIVE ID. Online users continue to be frustrated by the problem of having to remember the user names and passwords of the many websites at which they are members.
In sum, the current state of the art is lacking, inter alia, in electronic commerce and advertising systems that provide ease of transaction processing, identity theft prevention and management, and user experiences with respect to such transactions.